Winemaker Olivier Humbrecht, of the famed Alsace winery Zind-Humbrecht, once told me that riesling is an “intellectual wine,” that it sometimes demands too much of wine drinkers to ever become a mainstream, popular wine like chardonnay, sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio.

But if riesling is a grape that can reach heights of complexity that can make you wonder how grapes can produce such a beverage, there is another grape I have always found even more enigmatic. It’s called chenin blanc.

Unlike riesling, chenin is not limited to the coolest growing regions.

It is one of the most planted white-grape varieties worldwide.

Why so popular? Chenin might be the world’s most versatile grape. It is used to make everything from sparkling wine, intense and dry and off-dry table wines, extraordinary sweet wines, to even brandy. It can grow in most climates and in most soil types. It can also produce a ton of grapes per vine. And it is this last fact that has arguably made “Mr. Do-it-all” so anonymous.

In California and Australia along with many other parts of the world, chenin has been historically used as a base for rather innocuous (read cheap) table wines. In South Africa, where it remains the country’s most planted grape, it was mostly used for brandy production. And while there are some fantastic chenins now being made there, for many winemakers, familiarity has bred contempt.

When I asked Springfield Estate’s Jeanette Bruwer why more high-quality chenin blanc isn’t being produced, considering they have some very old vines scattered around South Africa, she responded that “if you grew up hating peas, then it’s hard to like them when you get older.”

But there is one place where chenin blanc reaches at times grandiose proportions – France’s Loire Valley. Sandwiched in between the better known appellations – Muscadet to the west (where Muscadet is grown), Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume to the east (sauvignon blanc) – the regions of Anjou and Touraine are home to some of France’s most enigmatic and best white wines.

As the grape name is not written on the label, many people have drunk chenin blanc without realizing it. Vouvray, Anjou, Montlouis-sur-Loire, Saumur and Saven­nières are all readily available at the SAQ. Many of these appellations produce dry, off-dry and sparkling wines. Chenin blanc is also behind the sweet wines of Côteaux du Layon, Bonnezeaux and Quarts de Chaume.

Also known as “Pineau de la Loire,” chenin blanc has been grown in the region since the ninth century. Why is it so good there? According to one of my favourite Loire winemakers, Thierry Puzelat, it is about the ideal mix of climate and soil.

So while it can produce lots of grapes in warmer regions, to produce great grapes means living on the margins.

“Too much to the west, it is too humid, which can lead to disease,” explains Puzelat. “Too far to the east, it simply won’t ripen.”

Chenin requires a long growing season, and there is a danger of early and late frost to the east, so the quicker growing sauvignon blanc is a far safer bet.

And then there are the soils, which offer an array of subtle variations. Puzelat told me that chenin blanc generates truffle notes when grown in the limestone of Touraine and more petrol notes on the shales of Anjou.

But it gets even more complicated. For example, in certain areas, Vouvray has lots of clay, which adds weight to the wines. Savennières is predominately slate and sandstone, which produces dry, unfruity and floral wines with an intense minerality.

The tasting

Last week, I tasted 28 Loire chenin blancs with 10 sommeliers and wine writers. Because many of the wines were only available on private import or were older vintages, I didn’t do my usual type of tasting, where the goal was to find what we considered the best wines. Rather, the tasting turned into an open discussion about what these wines were and what made them different from one another. I have some recommendations in this week’s suggestions of wines to try.

The consensus was that chenin blanc is an adventure to drink.

Many of the wines were confrontational and demanding, but even within the same appellation there were often variations in textures, in flavours and aromas. As we tasted wines from a number of vintages, it became clear how chenin blanc can transform and improve with bottle age.

If there was a common thread, it was that chenin blanc is not a particularly “fruity” wine in terms of aromas and flavours. So, compared with sauvignon blanc, it is much less exuberant. Quince, apple, apricot, pear and peach were most often found in the wines. For older wines, even after one or two years in bottle, aromas of honey, olive and mushroom started to appear. Most showed a slight bitterness on the finish, reminiscent of the inside of a citrus peel. Texture-wise, while they all showed a refreshing acidity, if I were to compare them again with sauvignon blanc, they were richer.

In terms of appellations, there was at times a radical difference between wines of the same appellation. We tasted a number of Vouvray and Saumur wines, for example, where some were mineral and lean, while others had a touch more fat and were rounder.

The one exception were the Savennières. We tasted four wines, and they all showed similar traits. Lean, cutting acidity, mineral. Some were positively electric. The general feeling was these wines would all do with a quick carafe, or a few years more in a wine cellar.

So, yes, these wines are an adventure in the sense that you never truly know exactly what you are getting. But is it worth the effort? Those of you who read this column regularly know that I do these group taste tests quite often, and the group of tasters said that this was the best tasting that I ever held. The majority of the wines were between $18 and $28, and even those wines less appreciated by the gang were by no means bad. But when they were good, which was often, they were very good.

So even if you don’t necessarily know what you will be getting, I can assure you that it will most probably be worth the expense. All that is required is an open mind, perhaps a carafe and some patience. And for those of you with a wine cellar, using a few open spots for some of these white wines will handily repay you after a few short years.

Have an adventure with these food-wine pairings

We tried several foods with our wines. While they all will pair well with seafood and fish, sushi worked well with the lighter, drier wines. We tried some of the Savennières with foie gras and terrine, and it worked well, though many would have preferred a sweeter wine. Speaking of which, rather than going with the standard sweet wine and blue cheese or foie gras pairing, we tried them with pork belly and scallops. Tremendous.

Vouvray 2010, Riche, Marc Brédif, France white, $19.50, SAQ #10254661. We tasted both the 2010 and 2003 of this cuvée, and both were outstanding. The 2010 had just enough residual sugar to bring out the fruit, but not so much to make the wine heavy. Simple and easy drinking, a rarity with chenin. Serve at 6C. Drink now-2018. Food pairing: apéritif, shrimp stir-fry with hot chili.

Anjou 2009, Clos de la Casse, Domaine des Deux Vallées, France white, $20, SAQ #11649198. Have to find the perfect temperature on this one. Too cold (4-6C) and it is too lean. However, at 8-10C, the full force of the aromatics – lemon and lime, just a hint of honey — show nicely. Really good. Serve at 8-10C. Drink now-2016. Food pairing: lobster.

Jasnières 2009, Les Rosiers, Domaine de Bellivière, France white, $27.60, SAQ #11153205. Just a hint of sweetness. Pear, peach, honey all wrapped around a mineral core. Needs an hour or so in a carafe to open up, but worth the effort. Serve at 8C. Drink now-2016. Food pairing: spicy foods, would work with chicken and white meats.

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